Before proceeding, connect your drive and open (right-click the Start button and select it).
: The standard for modern Macs with SSDs. open mac hard drive on windows
The most direct method of opening a Mac hard drive on Windows is the installation of third-party file system drivers. These "shims" sit between the Windows I/O manager and the file system, translating Windows API calls into APFS or HFS+ instructions. Before proceeding, connect your drive and open (right-click
Macs typically use (macOS 10.13+) or HFS+ (older Macs) as their file system. Windows natively cannot read or write to APFS or HFS+ drives. Without additional software, Windows will prompt you to format the drive — which would erase all data. These "shims" sit between the Windows I/O manager
For users averse to commercial licensing, HFSExplorer offers a viable, albeit more limited, alternative.
Disk Utility → select drive → look at “Format”.